Ellery Queen's Bad Scenes: Stories from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine

Sullivan, editor of Murder on Cue , here presents 25 short stories in which characters experience ``bad scenes. '' Such occasions are here defined as unpleasant situations, for example, being ``taken for a ride'' by vengeful Irish Provos (Pete Hamill's ``The Men in Black Raincoats'' ) ; falling into the many painful, razored traps your own mother has set for police trying to evict her (David Morrell's ``The Good Times Always End''); receiving, individually, by anonymous post, all of the gifts that your husband, the husband you murdered, gave you (Mary Barrett's ``Deja Vu''); visiting a garrulous neighbor with a complaint--and listening to the tale of the demise of a previous neighbor with a similar quarrel (David Ely's ``A Question of Neigborliness''). Cornell Woolrich's familiar, yet appropriate ``Rear Window`` is another treat. Though many of the stories are satisfying, several tepid entries render the collection as a whole a mixed bag. (Oct.)